Holy … How does a gardener get THROUGH this time of year? There was no post last week. I claim technical difficulties; technically, I felt like a walking swollen gland. There is an unbelievable amount of stuff to be done. The seedlings, far from allowing me to arse up their early stages, germinated at an unbelievable rate, especially the Stupice tomatoes.
(Next year, maybe I won’t be so Stupice as to plant so many seeds in each pot).

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And I’ll know that, for every inch of space of tiny seedling cells, I’m going to need three times as much space in grow lights once they start to grow up. Heck, maybe four times. The purple tomatillo seedlings are singing “Feed me, Seymour.” Except, oh yeah, there IS no Seymour, only me, and I nearly forgot to fertilize them last weekend.

Will I get time to plant a second flat of seedlings, this one for the eggplants and leeks and some more peppers and chard and melons? Can I find the time/space/light?

There is the ornamental grass to finally cut back so it can zoom upward again. There’s turf to mow and rake and have core cultivated (my aerator guy seems to have forgotten me.) There’s a date with destiny and my not-yet-purchased Cute Neuton. And yes, I forgot, thistles and dandelion to pull. Funny how I forget them.

There’s a landscape plan for my mud-wallow dog-racecourse of a back yard to work on setting up. This professionally designed rearrangement of my little universe is so beautiful it makes my head hurt. So there are plant choices from the plan (“Summer Wine” Ninebark! “Princess Kay” Plum! “Coral Canyon” Twinspur”! “Sunrise Sunset” Rose!) to google and analyze and salivate over. It’s a good thing this sore throat I’m nursing comes with a superabundance of spit, because these plants I don’t even own yet are so gorgeous I could die of dehydration sitting here at my computer.

And then there’s the lettuce bed. FINALLY germinating. Growing pretty dang slow through all these cold nights and bouts with snow. Peas: pouting. Chard: I can finally see a few poking up. Radishes: Only three or four of the two dozen I planted, as the envelope said, “here and there.” But am I capable of standing out in the cold staring endlessly at these tiny things, as if I could WILL them to send roots out through that cold chilly clay? Yes I am. Obsessed enough to stand out in the dark and sleet tucking a space blanket around those tiny things that may never amount to so much as a single morsel to eat.

Beauty is sustenance; sustenance is beauty. Is that what this fanfare of spring is trying to tell me? Anyone out there, what’s it telling you? What’s your secret for warping time in April to get all of your garden’s needs and desires fulfilled — and still have time for that most important task of all …

Becky Hensley is the co-founder of Share Denver - a community craft space in Park Hill. She's also the proud Ninja-in Chief of the Denver Craft Ninjas -- a women’s crafting collective dedicated to keeping the DIY spirit alive through laughter, shared skills, and cocktails.

Colorado native Mark Montano is an international designer, artist, author and television personality. He has appeared on TLC’s “While You Were Out” and “10 Years Younger,” as well as “My Celebrity Home” on the Style Network, “She’s Moving In” on We TV, “The Tony Danza Show” on ABC, and “My Home 2.0” on Fox.